"...somebody named Cliff Schecter, an expert. Never heard of him."-Rush Limbaugh

Thursday, February 08, 2007

Only the Christian Right could see Ted Haggard's secret life as a homosexual as more proof that their beliefs are correct.

Read this paragraph from a great piece written by my talented Gadflyer colleague Sarah Posner:

The recruitment canard explains a lot about why Haggard’s fall from grace, although swift and thorough, did not irredeemably condemn either the man or the empire over which he presided, including the political movement to make gay marriage unconstitutional. Instead, Haggard reinforces the need to labor on. If Haggard could be recruited -- and, by the other side of the coin, converted -- then why concede the point that God could have made gay people in his image?

So because Haggard went all SpongeBob, after he was, of course, born a good white heterosexual Christian who liked to bowl and only ate what he killed, ipso facto, everyone's heterosexual by nature and we're all one soy-cheese pizza away from getting dinner napkins adorned with the rainbow flag.

Make sense? And if he wasn't gay, that would prove their beliefs work too. Ain't it grand, they're right no matter what!

And if you want even more scary stuff on the Christian Right, read this piece in AlterNet about the rise of Christian fascism in America.

I did read that and it's very scary stuff. I was born in England in the late 40's and everyone of my parents' generation was involved in the war from the very beginning in 1939 - my father and his brother were in France with the resistance. Its probably why none of us kids ever bought into the church - he had seen what dreadful things were wrought by the unholy alliance of dogmatic christianity and fascism.

The media here needs to get its collective head out of the money pit and start actually reporting or we will find ourselves in trouble way too late to stop this.

I admit, the Christian Right is a very scary group. That said, I think in all walks of life there are extremists. I think we have to be careful not to go to the other end of the spectrum and condemn all those who practice religion.

In the last year or so, I've seen the pendulum start to swing the other way. I'm seeing those who fear this extreme Christian Right, like Pat Robertson and Jerry Fawlwell and paint with a wide brush all those who are Christians. To be honest, it's getting a little scary to be a normal, run of the mill Christian anymore. We are being hit from both sides. The extreme Religious Right say we are heretics for not following their version of Christianity and then the other side who say we are fascists because we are Christians.

The one difference that I see between Americans today and the Germans during the Hitler era is that we stopped it before it grew too big. Many Republicans are backing away from Pat Robertson and his ilk. Personally, I think they are losing what power they had. Look at this story with Haggard, it's been all over the news because of its absurdity. Not just the liberal blogs and news, but everywhere.

When Bush stepped over that line and began to boldly take steps to dismantle our Constitution and our rights, the American people stood up and said "NO!". The elections last November showed that the American people aren't going to follow Bush like the Germans followed Hitler. There will be some who do, but those numbers are dwindling. The more people like Haggard who show their true selves will also wake up those who trusted the Christian Right.

I think the Christian Right already reached their peak and now their followers are beginning to back away. Their days are numbered as far as being a majority, IMO.

I'm with you, Mary Ellen. Extremists/absolutists on any side are dangerous, and I sense that same pendulum swing. Thank God for press and speech freedoms and inclusivity and .......I never meant to imply and don't believe we're heading towards a fascist state. I just meant to imply that some of the same thinking that produced Hitler and Germany is alive and well here.

I agree! The really out there right wing religious nutcases are so far gone that it's only time till many others see them for what they really are. What is scary is the ones that make them look sane! Yes there are some that make even the nuttiest of the wingers look sane. Take Fred Phelps for example! What a raging lunatic that dude and his family is! That man takes nuts to a whole new level. Like the difference between a pecan and a coconut!

BTW, off topic, but for those that can't make it down here for Mardi Gras, My local paper, The Houma Daily Courier, has a camera set up down town and you can see the parades via their website. I just got off work, so I have to go find the link to it on the website. I will post on it today. The first parade here starts tonight at 6PM Central time.

Mary Ellen, how do you like my pet wingnut? Garry is a hoot ain't he? Misinformed to the point of funny! Did you see how he talked about president Lincoln? Lincoln and Bush in the same comment. Oh dear GOD! I almost fell out the chair! I bet Cliff would have a blast with him!

Hey Donnie, which Garry you talking about? I have a hoot smashing all conservatives on the telie, but take more pleasure in some than others.

As for Mardi Gras, as a younger and more single man I went in the 90s. What a vibrant town. Just thinking about what the allowed to happen there because they ignored warnings (as with my beloved home town of New York) makes me want to deck one of them.

lpf: If you think being a "leader" means bending with the winds of the public opinion polls (which are fluid and fickle), then you have no idea of what being a leader means. President Lincoln was wildly unpopular at various points during the Civil War; should Lincoln have packed it in after, say, the 1863 draft riots in New York? Or after the disaster at Cold Harbor in 1864, where 10,000 Union troops were killed or wounded over the space of 20 minutes?

No, he continued to fight - and thank God he did - even though it put his re-election in doubt: many war-weary Americans were ready to oust Lincoln, and when the Democratic Party nominated Gen. McClellan for President, the key part of the 1864 Democratic Party Platform demanded that "immediate efforts be made for a cessation of hostilities" (sounds a lot like today's Dems).

Being a leader often means doing what is unpopular, and not what the whim of the moment demands.

Anon-paranoid: Bush is not a "dictator", his is the lawfully elected President. I presume your description of him as "Der Fuehrer" is meant to imply that Bush is comparable to Adolf Hitler. If so, that is not only a historically idiotic comparison, but also an insult to the victims of Hitler, in that it demeans and minimalizes the vast scope of worldwide human suffering wrought by his Nationalsozialistische movement.

HAHA!! That's the one I was talking about Mary Ellen! OMG, the dude is out there. You notice how Todd took him to task? I didn't even bother to get in the mix. Todd will take him apart. But to see Cliff get him in a grip there? ROFLMAO!!!! Garry followed me over from The Democratic Daily where I write for. I don't know if Todd realized that it was the same person with a different name that he got a grip on at The Dem Daily. I have to let him know. When he finds out who it is, the fun will start.

BTW Cliff, We are talking about The Katrinacrat Blog. I have more than one. That comment you saw from LPF was me. I wiped that one out yesterday by swithing to the new blogger. Now both are under this name.